RFF President Briefs Agriculture Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C., -- Strong, persistent policies are needed to ensure that benefits from research and technological developments in the field of energy are realized, RFF President Phil Sharp testified today. The testimony was given before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, as part of a hearing on biofuels and the forthcoming consideration of farm legislation in 2007.

Sharp, who also chaired the House Energy and Power Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee from 1987 to 1995 during his twenty-year tenure in Congress, also urged Congressional leaders to consider how policies to reduce energy dependence might impact other goals, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Many of the actions we could take to reduce the growth in carbon emissions from oil would also help meet the goal of energy security," Sharp stated. "But some of the actions that could enhance energy security could also worsen our carbon path."

Resources for the Future, an independent and nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think-tank, seeks to improve environmental and natural resource policymaking worldwide through objective social science research of the highest caliber.

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